LOCALLY SOURCED
Jesus in Englewood Daniel Bair College Church member Daniel Bair is the executive director of Englewood Family Outreach. When Governor Pritzker announced a statewide “stay-at-home order” for Illinois to help curb the speed at which COVID-19 spreads, Daniel and his colleagues wrestled through its implications. Daniel and the board held a meeting the Friday night Governor Pritzker issued his order to discuss the ramifications of this for their ministry. Stay at home to save lives. That is sage advice. However, organizations that provide charitable and social services are exempt from this edict. Therefore, we as a ministry are faced with the difficult question of what to do in the face of such an unprecedented outbreak in our time. We agreed unanimously that we cannot operate as normal, but there was room for discussion on how exactly we should respond in a way to love our neighbors. Do we stay home and eliminate all physical contact in order to halt the spread of this virus, or do we take the risk for the sake of restoring those in need? While staying home is going to be the best way for most of us to love and serve our communities, it is not an easy question to answer for those serving the vulnerable who will be disproportionately impacted by this lockdown.
Some Thoughts As I was pondering this, I couldn’t help but wonder what Jesus would do if he were here right now. There was a flesh-eating disease in that time known as leprosy. From fear of the spread of this disease or defilement, those who had it living outside the camp wore rags and had to proclaim loudly, “Unclean! Unclean!” When Jesus approached a leper in Matthew 8, he did something unexpected. Before he healed him, Jesus touched the leper. Granted, we are not Jesus. He knew he was going to heal the leper and (therefore) wouldn’t spread the disease but cure and end it. But more than the method, I marvel at the message—Jesus saw a person in need, not a disease. Our ministry has neighbors in need, and we are brainstorming ways that we can encourage them and help meet their needs, from the physical to the mental to the spiritual. There is a virus spreading rapidly; if it goes unchecked, it will likely overwhelm our medical facilities. But there are people buried under the headlines of fear and toilet paper shortages who are being crushed by the havoc the coronavirus is leaving in its wake. Sure, the government is doing much to try to alleviate their suffering, but without the organizations that have already been serving on the frontlines, the organizations that know the people of the streets, there are many who will be lost and out of reach. We must see the people buried under the rubble. We must see them, touch them (in a nocontact sort of way) and point them to Jesus. At the end of Matthew 25, Jesus says that he will come back as king and reward his righteous sheep for clothing, feeding and visiting him. Baffled, they will ask, “When, oh King, did we do this?” The King will respond that as they did it to one of the least of his brothers, they did it to him (Matt. 25.40).
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